If a Maharashtrian Brahmin wedding has traditional menu, you can rest assured that it will include waran bhaat. Waran is slightly sweetened cooked dal, which is served on hot rice. When served hot with ghee it tastes really yum. The recipe given below is a modified version of waran bhaat that is suitable for babies and toddlers. Instead of tuvar dal, I use moong dal as it is easy for digestion. And instead of pouring dal on rice, I cook it together like a khichdi. Actually, most of the ingredients in this recipe are same as those used in making moong dal khichdi. However, when you add jaggery to it and don’t roast the grains, the taste is quite different for this moong dal rice.
Since in this moong dal rice recipe, the grains are not roasted before cooking, I started feeding this to Devansh in his 10th month. This by far is Devansh’s most favorite dish. If I’ve to feed this to him twice a day, I know he’s going to relish it even the second time. Till date, moong dal-rice is Devansh’s last meal of the day. His pediatrician advised me that a child’s last meal of the day should be heavy. And Devansh eats his moong dal-rice in good quantity without any hassle. Touchwood. :-)
Also See:
Baby Food Recipes by MumMumTime
Moong Dal Rice Recipe for Babies, toddlers, Kids
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp yellow moong dal (split yellow gram)
- 2 tbsp rice
- 1 pinch of hing (asafoetida)
- 1 pinch of haldi (turmeric powder)
- 1/2 tsp grated jaggery
- salt (to taste – see note below)
Instructions
- Wash rice and moong dal thoroughly to remove traces of pesticide.
- Add hing, haldi, jaggery, and salt.
- Add 1 and a half cup of water. For toddlers, you might want to make this less runny. So reduce the quantity of water accordingly.
- Cook in a pressure cooker on medium flame for about 20-25 minutes (8-9 whistles).
- Mash the cooked dal-rice finely or coarsely depending on your baby’s age.
- Add some homemade ghee before serving it.
Notes
- It is recommended to avoid adding salt in babies’ food till they turn one. However, in my case I found that Devansh just wouldn’t eat his food without salt. Hence, I started adding little bit of salt in his food. You can decide whether you want to add salt or not after talking to your child’s pediatrician.
- You can squeeze some lemon in the moong dal rice if you’re not going to add salt in it. It tastes nice even otherwise. Devansh likes lemon squeezed in this rice.
nicely explained